The procedure is very safe with scars which are quite well concealed in normal skin creases and in the hair line. Occasionally, an incision is made in the area under the chin in a normal crease as well.
The patient has a light dressing for approximately three days, following which the patient will be seen in the office, the dressings removed, and bruising can be camouflaged if the patient should like. Within three to seven days, the patient is presentable enough to be out in the usual circumstance.
There is usually little pain with facelifting and the recovery is very rapid. Sutures are in place for seven to ten days and, depending upon the patient's preference, a return to work within seven to ten days is also not unusual.
While insurance does not cover the procedure, negotiated rates with anesthesia and with the operating room have made this much more reasonable than would be implied by magazine and television reports. A ballpark figure for facelifting brings it in the range of $5,000, depending upon the extent of the procedure required.
The aim of the surgery is not to radically change one's looks or to take years away as it is to freshen one's appearance and make it such that one's looks reflect the way one feels about him or herself rather than the way the calendar makes us feel.
The duration of improvement seen with a facelift will vary from patient to patient and depends, in part, on general health, age of the patient, exposure to sun, wind and weight gain and weight loss and overall skin type.
One of the contraindications of facelifting is smoking, as the nicotine can markedly affect the healing process.
